Faith, hope and love are at the center of Christian’s life,
at least they should be. They are the drive and motivation behind everything we
do. At the end of what is known as the Love Chapter, Paul writes that faith,
hope and love are what remains (or lasts) and the greatest of these three is
love (1 Corinthians 13:13). These words are often found on home décor, to be
displayed in one’s house but does one truly understand that they mean? What is
faith? What is hope? What is love? We may know the basic definitions of these
terms but what about them makes them so important.
Faith is defined as “complete trust or confidence in someone
or something.” In the New International Version (NIV) Bible, faith is used 270
times. The basics of faith is trust and commitment to God. Faith can be shown
in three basic ways. First, personal belief, mental acceptance and
acknowledgment of God’s existence. In John 20:29 Jesus says to Thomas, “Because
you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and
yet have believed.” Many people have come to believe and have faith in Christ
but have not seen him. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says “We live by faith, not by sight.”
Faith is belief in things that are unseen. Second, conduct inspired faith. In Matthew
9:2, Jesus healed a man because of his faith. Faith allows us to believe in the
unbelievable and one day, believers will be rewarded for their faith by seeing
that was once unseen. St Augustine once said, “Faith is to believe what you do
not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” Third, a trust
or trustworthiness inspires our faith. Thomas Aquinas wrote “To one who has
faith, no explanation is necessary. To no without faith, no explanation is
possible.”
Hope is defined as “a feeling of expectation and desire for
a certain thing to happen.” Hope is used 129 times in 121 verses in the NIV
Bible. Hope is essential because “hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a
longing fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12). However, hope is not
like having a lottery ticket and hoping you win. Hope in the Bible is linked to
salvation by grace and faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is our hope. Hope for
eternity. Hope because God is in control of everything around us. It is a hope
of certainty, a divine hope while a human hope is a hope of uncertainty. Human
hope is merely wishful thinking. Hope in Jesus helps us live now. Sometimes we
still use hope as wishful thinking “I hope it all works out” but you never
know. However, there is hope in our salvation and the promises that Jesus gives
us in the gospels that we can rely on with certainty. In Philippians 3:13-14,
Paul writes, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I
press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward
in Christ Jesus.”
Lastly, love. Everyone knows love and it is a word that many
people use carelessly. Love is used 681 in the NIV Bible. 1 Corinthians 13
describes what love is. Love is patient, kind, protects, trusts, hopes,
perseveres and rejoices with the truth (verses 4 and 6). It also describes what
love is not. Love is not boastful, jealous, proud, rude, or easily angered
(verses 4 and 5). Love does not keep any record of wrongs, self-seeking, or
delight in evil (verses 5 and 6). Love never fails (verse 8). Love is the
greatest of all human qualities because it involves unselfish service to
others. It is the most durable and real evidence that you care. "Greater
love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends"
(John 15:13). Laying down one’s life is putting another’s needs ahead of your
own and it is the ultimate sacrifice of giving one’s life for another as Jesus
did on the cross. Love is attributed to God himself. John 3:16 states “For God
so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in
him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
In conclusion, faith, hope and love are important in a
Christian life. Faith is the foundation and content of God’s message. From
faith, hope and love are built. Hope is the attitude and focus. Love is both in
action. All three on interconnected. Love without faith or hope is hallow.
While faith and hope without love will fail. Faith, hope and love are the
things that will last forever. When everything else falls away, these three
things will remain. Faith, hope and love are the things we should be pursuing
in our lives and should be the motivations behind all we do in the name of
Jesus.
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